A new kind of QB controversy for Jaguars

Coach Jack Del Rio said he won't make that decision until game day Sept. 11 when the Jaguars open the 2011 season at home against Tennessee.

"We have two backups," he said after the Jaguars lost to the St. Louis Rams 24-17 Thursday at EverBank Field, and would not elaborate.

First-round pick Blaine Gabbert had most of the reps and played in all four preseason games. Returning No. 2 quarterback Luke McCown made the most of limited time, playing little more than two full quarters but turning in more efficient numbers.

As a result, no one is saying who would play if starter David Garrard is injured. Gabbert said it doesn't matter.

"It's more a big deal [who is the second-team quarterback] to people on the outside," Gabbert said after completing 9-of-18 passes for 132 yards against the Rams. "It's just a number. If, for some horrible reason, David goes down, we have to be prepared to play regardless of whether you're two or three. We just know Dave is the starter."

McCown was told before the game that he would be second out of the gate after Garrard, and he led the Jaguars to a touchdown drive late in the second half that produced a 7-7 tie. He completed 4-of-9 passes for 48 yards, but rallied from a start in which he was 1-of-5 for minus-1 yard.

But McCown said that was no indication that he was the second-team quarterback.

"Jack just said I was going in second, and in the second quarter," McCown said. "Whether that's the way it is to start the season is a question for him."

McCown completed 12-of-18 passes (.667) for 132 yards in the preseason, and was the only one of four Jaguars quarterbacks who did not throw an interception.

"We started slow [against the Rams] but we showed what we're capable of as an offense when we get rolling," McCown said. "We got positive yards on first and second down and stayed out of long yardage on third down.''

McCown threw a 17-yard TD pass to Cecil Shorts and even scrambled twice, the second time converting a first down.

Gabbert completed 35-of-70 passes for 50 percent during the preseason, and threw for 365 yards. But he did show he was a rookie and at times seemed lost on the team's final possession that ended with two incompletions into the end zone.

"I have to look at the preseason, as a whole, as a success," Gabbert said. "The time I didn't get, no offseason, no rookie mini-camps and having to learn the playbook.

"... I executed well for the most part. I looked as these games as regular-season games, and they are for the rookies. You have to value every rep and I think I did."

Garry Smits: (904) 359-4362

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